Where in Europe can’t I pay with the euro?

The summer peak season is getting into full swing at the moment – and many Swiss people will be heading abroad in the coming weeks. Although credit or debit cards are now accepted in many places, it’s still rare to get by entirely without cash. This makes it all the more important to know where the euro is accepted as legal tender and which European countries, apart from Switzerland and Liechtenstein, still use their own currency.

In these countries, the euro is not legal tender

Anyone travelling to one of the following countries should generally expect to use the local currency:

• Albania (lek)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (convertible mark)
• Denmark (Danish krone)
• Gibraltar (Gibraltar pound)
• Great Britain (British pound)
• Guernsey (Guernsey pound)
• Isle of Man (Manx pound)
• Iceland (Icelandic króna)
• Jersey (Jersey pound)
• North Macedonia (denar)
• Norway (Norwegian krone)
• Poland (złoty)
• Romania (leu)
• Serbia (dinar)
• Sweden (Swedish krona)
• Czech Republic (Czech koruna)
• Hungary (forint).

Denmark, Sweden and Norway are particularly strict in this regard: there, the official tourism organisations explicitly point out that the euro is rarely, if ever, accepted in everyday life. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, too, domestic payments are officially only possible in the local currency.

The situation is different in some tourist destinations. In the Czech Republic, Hungary, Albania and Gibraltar, many hotels, restaurants and shops do accept euros. However, as in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, change is usually given in the local currency, and the exchange rate applied is often less favourable than when paying by card or withdrawing cash from a cash machine. In Iceland, too, the euro is accepted as a means of payment in some places.

These countries use the euro – even outside the eurozone

Montenegro and Kosovo are special cases. Although neither country is a member of the eurozone, the euro is legal tender there. The same applies to the small European states of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City, which use the euro under special agreements.

The euro can also be useful outside Europe. In Turkey, it is accepted in many holiday resorts, as well as in tourist regions of Egypt. In The Gambia, it can be used to pay the security charge at the airport. In Cape Verde, although the escudo is pegged to the euro, the euro is not a widely accepted means of payment there.

For travellers, the following applies: the euro is widely used in Europe, but by no means accepted everywhere as a matter of course. Anyone travelling outside the eurozone is best advised to carry a card and some cash in the local currency.